The Red Assassin
by Yume Ookami
Summary: Section 3 attacks a Castle to arrest the Lord on terms of war aggravation, they notice that there's something strange about the servants and are directed to the Dungeon. Who is the woman in the dungeon? What is she too the servants? How does Oland know her? Little bit of AliceXOland! Please R
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Rin**

It had been so long since she had heard the screams of battle and smelled the scent of blood which coiled thickly around the room. Unbidden, conflicting emotions filled her heart; grief for those who were hurt or dead, anger at being held captive and a strange, frightening longing for the battle field in which she could reign supreme. Oh, how much she yearned for the war zone yet feared it with every fibre of her being.

Something dripped from the ceiling and landed with a splash on her cheek; running down her smooth skin tickling her; making her want to wipe it from her face. The rattle of chains resounded loudly around the empty cell as she moved and for the millionth time she cursed the bonds she was imprisoned in. Suddenly the sound of footsteps echoed round her cell as someone ran towards the door in front of her.

**Section 3**

Randle ran through the chaos as the Castle Lord's soldiers fought against Section 3, who were trying to arrest him on the terms of war aggravation. He came across a group of servants who were just sitting in the corridor. As he ran passed one of the servants pointed down a dimly lit corridor; Randle stopped and searched the man's face looking for deceit. When he saw none Randle nodded slightly and turned down the corridor.

"Corporal, where are you going?" Alice caught up with him and ran by his side.

"There is something wrong with this castle. The servants don't care about what happens to their Lord. They even pointed for me to go this way," Randle stopped at a set of stairs that led down.

"And you just believe them and run into a dark place," Alice grabbed the back of his jacket, ceasing his motion to go down the stairs.

"There was no lie in the man's eyes; there must be something down here that they want us find," Randle looked down at the top of Alice's head. She looked up at his serious expression and let his jacket slip through her fingers. He turned from her and flew down the stairs leaving her to scold herself for acting so childishly, holding onto the back of his jacket just because she was scared. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it and followed after the corporal.

Randle heard footsteps behind him and with a quick look over his shoulder identified them as Alice's. They were running down a cobbled corridor that had doors leading off of it. The doors all had a window in the middle of the upper part of the door and all the windows were barred.

Randle stopped in front of a door that looked completely different to the others; instead of having a barred window the door in front of them was made out of a single, thick slap of Oak. Randle backed away to shoulder barge the door, just before he ran at it Alice stopped him.

"That door is solid oak, there is no way you could break it down. You'll have to shoot the lock."

Randle looked at her surprised before narrowing his eyes and pushed Alice behind him. He pulled down the lever on his lantern and blue light flooded the corridor. He pulled his massive gun out of its hoist, aptly named the 'door knocker'. He positioned it against the lock of the mighty door and fired.

**Rin**

The girl hung there, her eyes glued to the door in front of her waiting for the owner of the footsteps to act. Suddenly a blue light crept into the cell through the crack under the door, knowing that something was about to happen she shut her eyes tightly just as a deafening bang erupted outside her cell; throwing a chunk of wood across the cell, narrowly missing her. She stayed still listening to the heavy footsteps as the thudded into her cell, the blue light teasing at her eyelids. She slowly opened her eyes to see a giant man towering over her, a will-of-a-wisp on his hip. She looked up and met his eyes and saw that they were without feeling, empty.

In his hand smoked a huge gun and on his clothing hung the faint smell of war which she breathed in deeply through her cracked lips. Behind the man a woman put her head round the corner of the doorway and gasped loudly when she saw her.

**Section 3**

Randle ran through the door and scanned the room with his sharp eyes. On the other side of the room in the darkest corner of the cell Randle saw a pair of eyes, reflecting the light given out by his lantern. Alice crept round the corner and froze when she saw the pair of seemingly disembodied eyes.

The clink of chains brought Randle into action; he pulled the lever on his lantern cutting off the blue light and went up to the prisoner.

He walked forward; a gasp escaped him when he saw that it was a woman in her late teens; she was hung by her arms, her feet hardly touching the floor; chains as thick as his wrist were attached to her wrists and ankles, keeping her from moving around. Her body was a thin as a skeleton's, her face was shallow, she looked like a corpse. Her breathing was shallow and unhealthy but her eyes glimmered and were full of life and mistrust.

Slowly, so as not to frighten her, extended a hand towards the young woman who made no movement to try and stop him or to try and back away.

"Lieutenant, I need your help!" he called to Alice, who ran in and froze when the girl's ice cold eyes turned to her. Randle reached up and ripped the chains from the ceiling with a roar; causing the woman to fall towards the ground. He caught her gently, putting a careful hand around her waist and gasped when he felt how light she was. He carefully shrugged out of his coat trying not to hurt her in the process.

"Lieutenant could you…" Randle held out his coat which Alice took and quickly bundled up before slipping it under the girls head as Randle laid her down on the floor.

"She's shivering, stay here whilst I go get a blanket," Alice ran out of the door and her footsteps could be heard growing faint as she got further away. Randle leant over and tore the other pair of chains out of the floor freeing the girl entirely of her bonds to the cell she had been kept in.

She reached out a delicate hand and touched Randle's knee getting his attention, he looked down at her and started when he saw that she was trying to sit up.

"No, you shouldn't get up," he put a hand on her shoulder halting her movement.

"Save them," she whispered hoarsely, Randle looked down at her shocked.

"Who?"

"My subordinates … we were captured… and made to work as slaves," she gasped trying to get more air into her lungs.

"Okay I will, if they ask what should I say?"

"That Rin sent you," she looked up at him and saw him nod.

"Rest, I'll be back for you," Randle jumped to his feet and ran down the corridor, intent to fulfil the mission he had just been given.

**Rin**

As Randle's footsteps faded into the distance, Rin rolled onto her front and searched the gloom with her sharp eyes and listening out for the return of Alice or Randle. After making sure that no one was around Rin slowly rose up onto all fours and shakily crawled to the door, dragging her chains behind her. She crawled down the corridor in the opposite direction to which Randle had run and came across the jailer's room. Said Jailer was helping to fight against Section 3.

She crawled through the open door and up to the table which she grabbed and pulled herself to her feet. After a few attempts which ended up in her falling back to the ground, she prevailed and stood on her feet for the first time in five years. Rin looked up and felt a shiver of joy rip down her spine when she saw that her old weapons had been kept as well as the scabbards. She walked up to them and hesitantly reached out and curled her hand round the grip of the hilt of her katana. In the corner of her eye she could see the hilt of a rusty, neglected dagger. Rin let go of her katana and grabbed the dagger; put it in the first link and proceeded to break the chain off of her shackles.

**Section 3**

He had found the soldiers where they had been stood before but this time they were being harassed by what looked like one of the lord's guards. He walked silently up behind the man and reached out to grab the gun in his hand; the man span around as his gun was wrenched out of his hands. He took one look at the huge man towering over him, paled and ran away like a dog with its tail between its legs.

Randle watched as the man fled then turned to the servants who thanked him with an incline of their heads.

"Your superior, Rin, sent me; she wanted me to make sure you all were safe," he said, gauging their reaction.

"Lady Rin!?" one of the men cried out, a shocked smile slowly spread across his face, "She's still alive!?"

"Yes, but only just. She looks like she has been down there for a while. Why didn't you try and save her?!" Randle's eyes narrowed dangerously, causing the group to take a step back in fear; they looked down guiltily, trying to avoid the accusation in his eyes.

"We couldn't. A group of us tried to save her before but…" one of the servants stepped forward, pulled up his shirt and showed Randle his back. Jagged scars criss-crossed the man's back, telling of a severe and agonising beating.

"Three of our comrades died that day," the man pulled his shirt back down; "the Lady Rin was forced to watch. Afterwards, she forbid us from trying again. We wanted to save her but … after seeing the look in her eyes, we didn't dare!"

"Now's your chance," Randle motioned to them to follow him as he turned to run back to the dungeon. Randle ran down the stairs with Rin's old unit at his heels; it had been ten minutes since he had left her and he was beginning to get worried about her. They all followed him, forcing him to run faster in their desperation to see their old unit leader. As soon as they saw the open cell door, they over took Randle and ran into the dark room.

"Corporal Randle!" Alice ran out of the cell, worry clear on her face, "the girl, she's gone!" Randle ran into the cell, searched it quickly with his hawk like eyes before running out the door and flew down the rest of the corridor, the enslaved unit trailing behind.

After a few minutes they came across a guard's station, the door had been slung back almost to the breaking point and when Randle entered the room he saw a pile of chains heaped up in a corner, the links forced open. Rin's unit walked in behind him and instantly went to a tatty display case which held a large number of weapons.

The man, who had addressed Randle before, reached out and grabbed a gun with dark wood and a sword that had an elaborate hand guard. Tied to the sword's hilt was a piece of paper. When the man untied and opened it, he saw that it was a letter addressed to the whole unit.

It read:

"_Thank you for being so worried about me till now and so I am grieved that I can't tell you Sayonara in person. With all my heart I give you this last order. I order you to no longer take part in the war, which from the looks of things has been over for several years, and live as a family."_

The men looked at each other with tears in their eyes.

"Even now, we still are not allowed to see her," the man crushed the letter in his hand as he struggled to keep his tears at bay. Alice walked quietly up to him and put her hands round the hand which was gripping the paper.

"That letter and the memories you carry in your heart are the only things you have to remember her by, don't destroy them," she spoke gently, looking at the distressed man. He stared at her for a moment before nodding, he unclenched his fist and smoothed out the paper before folding it carefully and put it in his pocket which was closest to his heart. He swallowed and took a shaky breath before shouldering a pack which Alice had laid aside for them.

"Gentlemen," he turned and addressed the now disbanded unit, "it's time to move out".


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Section 3**

"Remind me again why we are travelling to this out of place, back water town," Oreldo groaned as they drove down a neglected road in Section 3's amphibian car.

"There are reports that the town's people are complaining about a lack of food supplies being sent to their town, which is odd as the documents at HQ clearly show that the supplies have been sent. It is our job to find out what has happened to these supplies," Alice watched the road they were travelling on with a serious expression.

"So, the towns people could just be eating more than their share," Oreldo shrugged only to shrink back in fear when Alice turned to look at him; her face warped in fury.

"Or the aid hasn't gotten through because someone is stopping it on the way," Oreldo quickly added, abating Alice's anger.

Just before the town came into view Alice spotted an old looking castle atop a hill, which over looked the settlement. From the looks of it, the castle had been recently burnt down and left to smoulder, a thin trail of escaping smoke told of the still ongoing devouring by the flames.

"We'll check that castle later, we should make our presence known to the local council," Alice said, Oreldo looked at her for a moment.

"Don't you mean Town Lord?" he asked and was surprised to see her shake her head.

"According to the records, the town's Lord was killed during the war, the people took charge and have led this place ever since; however there are a few reports that talk about bandit attacks in the area. The complaints about the lack of supplies may be due to the thievery of these said bandits," Martis commented, keeping his eyes on the uneven road as he tried to get the unit safely to the site of their next mission.

"Who's side are you on?!" Oreldo grumbled, shooting a glare at Martis.

"Being your superior officer, I would hope that he is on my side, Warrant Officer Oreldo," she emphasised his rank causing him to wince, look away and grumble into his hand. Oland watched their argument with some trepidation and hoped that the lieutenant wouldn't be in a foul mood at the end of the journey, otherwise she'd more than likely insult some town's folk by accident and start a mob which would chase them out of town. He sighed and looked at the countryside that was flying past them. Alice turned and looked at him for a moment before looking away disheartened; the corporal had been different, distant even, since the mission they had been on a year ago, with the red headed girl who had mysteriously disappeared.

"We're here," Martis stopped the car, jumped out and stretched to relieve the stiffness after sitting still for so long. Orland got out of the car and turned back to offer a helping hand to Alice who was just about to jump over the side. She took his offered hand and he picked her up and lifted her over the side of the car, to place her gently on the ground. She looked up at him with a slightly blushed face, to say thank you, but realised that he wasn't looking at her.

"Um lieutenant," Oreldo whispered urgently, Alice turned to face him and saw that a large group of people had surrounded them. She stared silently at them for a moment, a hand on her shoulder suddenly made her jump; she looked up to see Randle's worried frown, she realised that she had tensed. She shook herself and turned back around to address the surrounding town's folk.

"We are State Section 3 from the Central Intelligence Division, we're here about your complaint about the lack of food," Alice said in a loud voice, the town's people froze with shocked expressions.

"Please, come this way," a man beckoned them to follow him. Alice sighed in relief before striding after the man, the other members trailed after her.

"We appreciate you answering our complaint so quickly, however, the problem has already been sorted out," the council member said, handing Alice a cup of tea.

"What do you mean 'sorted out'?!" Alice frowned; Oreldo and Martis looked at each other confused.

"Well, it's a long story," he looked up and saw the annoyed expression on Oreldo's and gulped, "but considering that you've come all this way, I think I should tell it to you. Please take a seat." Oreldo sighed in irritation but sat down silently next to Martis who took off his glasses and cleaned them. Randle sat on a chair near Alice, towering over the nervous councillor.

"R…Right then," he cleared his throat and took a sip of his tea.

"The reason why we sent in the complaint was because of the bandits, who lived in that old castle," he started.

"We drove that castle, it's burnt down," Martis interrupted.

"I'll get to that in a moment," the councillor took another sip of his rapidly cooling tea, "the bandits would sign for the supplied, which the army sent to relieve the starving people of our town, and they would keep it for themselves. They would also raid the town for extra food and drink, but the worst thing was that they would take the young women to their castle and we wouldn't see them for a week, then the women would turn up covered in bruises, with ripped clothing. It doesn't take much imagination to work out what happened to them," he paused with a shaky breath. Alice's face was full of disgust and fury, an expression that was mirrored in the faces of her subordinates.

"So what happened?!"

"It was a day after we sent in the complaint; a young woman, in her teens, drifted into town. She walked around for hours, talked to the towns' folk, before disappearing. That night there was some commotion in the castle, I took a group of volunteers up to the front gate. When we got there…" The councillor put his cup down on the table for fear that his trembling hands would spill the tea held inside.

"The sight we witnessed is still fresh in my mind, it was so horrifying that one of the volunteers with me fainted and several vomited. The army of bandits had been decimated, limbs were scattered around the grounds, it seemed as though the attacker had painted the walls with blood. But that wasn't the worse thing," Oreldo smashed his fist on the table, causing the tea cup to tip over.

"What could be worse?!" his voice shrill in horror.

"What was worse was that all the time we were walking through the bloodbath; there was a sickening sense of joy surrounding the kills, as if the person had had fun massacring the 100 strong force. Not one body had been left intact, all had been mutilated, their insides spilled covering the floor. It soon became too much to bear and we fled from the castle with our tail between our legs. I turned back for a last glance at the castle when I had made it down from the hill; the tell tale orange glow of fire had reared its head to devour the castle and take it down to hell. While I watched, a small group of people smashed through the bottom window and limped away from the ruined castle. From their garb I could tell that they were survivors form the bandit gang. Then suddenly there was a yell from behind us telling us to look at the castle roof. I looked up and in between the roaring flames I saw something that shredded my heart in terror," he breathed in a shaky breath, the members of Section3 stared at him with bated breath.

"What did you see?" Alice whispered, the man looked at her, gulped and then continued.

"A girl… covered in blood with a fiery red mane. Whether she was a ghost or demon, I know not; but what I do know is that, that child was the one who massacred the men in the castle."

"Lieutenant, are you sure this is a good idea?" Oreldo asked, looking up at the burnt out castle that loomed above him.

"We have a duty to check this out, we may find some clues as to who the assailant was," Alice said in a strong voice, her eyes betraying her reluctance.

"Ma'am?" Oland frowned, Alice looked at her subordinates and saw that they had already gotten out of the car and were waiting for her. Alice coughed self consciously, jumped out of the car and unsheathed her sword.

"Ok, Martis and Oreldo go round back and search for another exit, Oland come with me. Move Out!" Alice swept her sword down in a slashing motion as she moved towards the main door of the castle; the sound of Oreldo's and Martis' footsteps slowly getting quieter as they moved away.

Alice walked towards the door with the smell of smoke clogging up her nose. The double doors hung off their hinges; the wood was blackened and burnt. She slipped past the doors and peered into the darkness that seemed to cling to the inside of the castle. She heard a low shuddering groan behind her and span round, her heart beating so fast it hurt.

"Um Lieutenant, are you alright?" Oland asked, his broad shoulders moving the broken doors as he pushed past them; their hinges groaning with the strain. Alice fell to her knees, breathing quickly as she tried to calm herself down.

"Ma'am?" Oland ran up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder and it instantly calmed her down. She put a hand on his for a moment before remembering herself; she quickly moved her hand, stood up and walked up the corridor they were stood in. Oland stared after her for a moment before following; as he was catching up she turned a corner out of his sight.

Suddenly Oland could only hear his own footsteps, all sound from Alice had ceased. He couldn't even hear her breathing; terrified for her, he began to speed up.

A piercing scream shattered the silence and Oland's heart skipped a beat.

"ALICE!" he roared, he ran towards the source of the scream, the silence crushing him with fear. He flew around the corner only to skid to a halt, almost tackling Alice. She was frozen to the spot starting at something in front of her. Oland turned and his eyes widened at the horror in front of him. A pair of double doors laid on the floor where they had been kicked off their hinges, behind them stretched a large hall that had obviously been used as the bandits' headquarters. In the centre stood what seemed to be the remains of a cooking fire, the scold marks on the floor and the smoke smudge on the ceiling reinforced this notion.

Now bodies, belonging to the fallen bandits, had been piled up in the fire circle and had been set alight; it seemed as though time had frozen for them. Smoke coiled off their blackened and cracked skin and their blood was bubbled and dry; limbs sticking out here and there at awkward angles. But that wasn't the worst thing. What really scared Alice were the corpses' eyes and facial expressions, just by them she knew that they had been alive when they had been burnt; and even though there was nothing to stop them, some reason they had not even tried to run.

Tears slid down her face as she stared at them, unable to move, unable to look away. Oland wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him so that her face was pushed against his chest, away from the horror in the room. For a moment she stayed frozen before grabbing his jacket and sobbing silently into the front of his uniform. He stared down at her for a minute before bending down and lifting her off her feet and carried her the other way towards the light of the outside. She buried her head in his chest so that she wouldn't have to look back at the burning pile of bodies. His gentle sway as he walked lulled her into a peace that she could help but think was unnatural after seeing such a sight. She looked up at his face and saw a determined set to his jaw, his eyes on his path as he picked through the rubble underfoot.

As he neared the entrance he stopped and set her on her feet, not wanting to embarrass her by showing her weakness in front of the other two guys.

"Thank you, Oland," she whispered her head bowed so that she wouldn't have to meet his eyes. He put a gentle hand on her head and patted once before pulling his hand back. She looked up at him and saw that he was giving her a reassuring smile.

She took a moment to collect herself before stepping outside to see Oreldo and Martis lounging in the car.

"What are you doing?" she asked, glaring furiously at them. They quickly jumped to attention and saluted before answering.

"We went all the way around the castle Ma'am, there is no back entrance. This place was built for maximum defence, they didn't bother to build escape routes," Martis answered, she sighed and moved towards the car.

"Come on, there's nothing here. We might as well go back to headquarters, the red haired 'demon' has long since gone," Alice said as she climbed in the front passenger seat and waited for the men. Oreldo looked at Oland for a moment to see whether he would explain what they had seen in the castle, when the Corporal shook his head Oreldo shrugged and got in the car. As soon as Randel had gotten into the car, Martis started the engine and started down the potholed road away from the bloodstained castle with its mountain of corpses.

* * *

Suddenly Randel froze rigid in his seat, his eyes fixed on a point in the distance.

"Corporal?" Alice noticed his change in behaviour, fear grasping her heart when she saw his hand move unconsciously to touch his lantern.

"It's nothing, Ma'am, just my eyes playing tricks," he muttered. He wasn't sure if the ghostly figure with the blood red hair that he saw was a reality or an illusion but a tiny voice in the back of his mind warned him not to drop his guard.

As they rounded the next bend the sound of cannon fire echoed off the valley walls. Randel threw all of his weight backwards causing the front of the car to fly up into the air. A cannonball hit the underside of the vehicle causing it to shoot backwards. One of the head rests sheared off and hit Oreldo across the back of the head, instantly knocking him unconscious.

Oland watches as Alice fell from the car, which was falling backwards and launched himself at her, arms outstretched to catch his commanding officer.

The deafening sound of another cannon shot rang through his body as he caught her and turned in midair so that his back took the brunt of the fall instead of her delicate little body.

The car flipped with the momentum of the second cannon ball and Randel only just managed to roll so that he could once again shield the woman in his arms from harm.

As the car flipped over him the sharp broken ends of the head rest ripped into his already bleeding back, dragging two agonisingly deep gashes diagonally across his back. Despite the pain he looked up and saw Martis pinned in his seat, his eyes wide in horror, his mouth open in a silent scream.

"_I've got to help him!" _Randel cried in his head, willing his defeated body to move. Instead of complying, his body collapsed and he used the last of his strength to shift sideways so that his enormous body wouldn't crush Alice.

All of a sudden he heard a scream of terror from the direction of where the cannonballs had come. Randel turned his head towards the commotion and with his blurred eyes he managed to make out the figure of a young woman with blood red hair attacking Section 3's ambushers.

**Rin**

After slicing the stomach of the last bandit, the woman ran up to the wreckage of State Section 3's car. She came across the giant and his commander first. Whilst the lieutenant was unharmed yet unconscious having fainted from shock, the corporal was in a much more serious situation. The deep rips in his back free flowed blood and his heart, which the young woman could hear clearly with her sensitive ears, seemed to beat weakly.

Before doing anything else she ran over to the other two who were still in the car despite the fact that the vehicle was lying on its side. The dark haired warrant officer with glasses had a shallow gash on his forehead's hair line and his arm was twisted unnaturally telling the woman that it was broken. The brown haired warrant officer was out cold with a nasty lump to the back of his head.

With her battle hardened strength she pushed the car upright and checked whether it would be able to move. After much coxing she managed to get the damaged engine to splutter into life. Leaving the car running she swiftly carried the Lieutenant and her enormous subordinate into the back of the car before jumping into the front seat and let the car limp to where she wanted to go.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

With a groan Alice's eye flickered open, she looked up to see an unfamiliar ceiling. She sat bolt upright, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked at her surroundings.

"Lieutenant?" she looked over to the voice and saw Martis and Oreldo sitting on a couch opposite her, both in bandages and Martis with a sling.

"Where are we?" She swung her legs off the side of the bed and started to walk towards them.

"No idea, we were here when I woke up so I don't know how we got here or who bound our injuries," Oreldo shrugged.

"All we need now is for the Corporal to wake up," Martis sighed looking at something behind Alice. She span round and brought her hands to her mouth with a gasp. There, lying on a bed two down from hers was Oland, his shirt had been removed and his back was now covered in bandages. He was lying on his front with his face to the side, his expression peaceful.

"Oh Corporal," she whispered, fighting back tears as she stared at his unmoving body.

"Don't worry Ma'am, he's alive," Oreldo said, turning away from her so that she couldn't see his knowing grin.

Alice stifled a relieved sigh that worked its way through her body. She walked up to the injured corporal and gently brushed a lock of hair out of his face, as she did this he unconsciously moved into her hand with a wearied groan. Alice's brow creased as she watched Oland's eyes flicker beneath his lids; she knew that this meant that he was dreaming but looking at the pained expression on his face she knew that he was having a nightmare.

Alice turned from him fleeing from the agony that his pain caused to flare up in her. She walked over to the door she had noticed earlier and tried the handle, expecting it to be locked. She paused when the door swung open at her touch and looked round at Oreldo, who stood with a determined look on his face.

"Martis, you stay here," Alice ordered before marching through the door. Oreldo locked eyes with his four eyed buddy before silently closing the door behind him.

They walked into a well kept lounge which, on one side, had a wall of glass. The view from the massive window was phenomenal. Just with one glance Alice could tell that the house they were in was situated on a hill overlooking a village. The fields outside the village were lush with corn and she could see little dark specks which she knew to be people.

"Looks like its harvest time," Oreldo said quietly, voicing her thoughts for her.

They walked through an archway into a large kitchen and Alice froze.

"Ma'am?" Alice quickly held her hand up to silence him and cocked her head towards the sound that she had heard. It was a metallic sound which she had heard before but couldn't quite place it.

She edged closer to the door from which the sound emulated, the one sign that someone other than her team was in the house.

Alice went to grab the door handle but Oreldo put a firm hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. She turned to him to ask why he had done that but his eyes told her not to question him. With one arm he tugged her behind him and then reached out for the handle. He took a deep breath before turning the handle and opening the door silently. Inside he saw something that he did not expect.

What he saw was the bottom of a young woman who was leaning under the bonnet of a car, working on the engine which had been damaged in the attack. He froze, unsure of what to do and he was sure that this stranger before him would not take kindly to being groped. Just before he did something that he would regret later he heard a voice come from the woman.

"If you have enough time to stand there and stare, could you possibly pass me the monkey wrench," mirth clear in her every syllable. Oreldo, now as red as beetroot, moved from Alice's side and handed the required tool to the woman who was waiting for it. Alice slowly walked in, suspicious of the strange. She jumped when she heard the woman sigh and edged backwards when she started to pull herself from the car.

"You don't have to be afraid of me Alice, I'm not going to hurt you or your team," the woman stood straight and turned to face the lieutenant, her hair was tightly wrapped up and hidden away under a bandana to keep it clean. The young woman walked over to a small sink in the corner of the considerably large garage that held not only the twisted, scarred, broken car she was working on but also a jeep which was pristinely kept.

"How did you know my name?" Alice asked, a tremor in her voice betraying her fear of the unknown woman who seemed to scream danger. The woman sighed once again, walked over to the petite blonde and undid her bandana. A mass of blood red hair cascaded round her face and down her back, past her bottom. She stood with her hands on her hips with the upper half of the boiler suit she was wearing tied around her waist. She had a crop top covering her chest allowing them a view of her well toned body and her muscular midriff.

"I know you!" Alice gasped, "You're the one we're here for, the one who killed the bandits in that hill fort!" The woman stared at her for a moment before pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Whilst it is true, I am the one who got rid of the bandit nest, that wasn't the first time we had come into contact. It's been about a year since we last met," the red head hinted. Alice peered at her for a long while before a sudden flash of an image jogged her memory.

"You…You're Rin, the one from the dungeon who disappeared before we could return to get her out!" Alice stated wide eyed still not quite believing herself when she said it. Rin nodded and smiled reassuringly before closing the bonnet on the car.

"Come on, I'll make you guys a cup of tea whilst you wait for the corporal to wake up, though I doubt that he will wake up today or tomorrow, his back had been dealt some serious damage. I did what I could in helping him to heal but now it's all up to him," the woman said as she cast a glance at the room where Martis and Oland were.

"What happened?" Alice asked her brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to remember what happened and found that she couldn't. Oreldo frowned as well and turned to Rin as she collected her thoughts.

"First of all I have to apologise," Rin bowed her head to them before continuing, "The men that attacked you with the cannon were the remnant of the bandit group that had fled from the fort I eradicated. The reasoning behind them ambushing you was probably that they wanted your vehicle to make an escape." She paused in her explanation as the kettle boiled and clicked telling her it was ready to pour; she motioned for her two listeners to sit down in the lounge. After she had finished making the cup of tea she followed them, put the tray of tea on the coffee table in the middle of the room and took a seat opposite the lieutenant and warrant officer. She held the tea cup in her hands not feeling the heat from the boiled water therein and told them everything that had happened to them.

"I was watching," she sighed guiltily, "I had been hunting the remainders of the bandits and saw them attacking you. I started running but couldn't get to them in time to stop the attack, when I got to them believe you me, I made them pay." Her eyes glaring in fury for a second before a peaceful expression returned to her face.

"I carried you and the Corporal to the car, somehow, and got the car to limp here to this village," she nodded towards the window.

"Why did you do so much?" Oreldo asked unable to contain himself any longer. Rin turned and stared at him for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

"How could I not?!" she stopped laughing and her demeanour turned serious, "After all, you have saved not only my life but the lives of my men." Alice smiled gently at her and laid a hand on Oreldo's shoulder as he opened his mouth to ask her meaning, he looked at her with a confused frown.

"Rin here is the woman from the Castle Lord case a year ago," she started.

"I know that you've already said but I don't get it, she was one of the servants right?!" Oreldo shook his head in frustration.

"Oreldo, all of the servants were prisoners from the same unit, the only reason why they stayed there and did the bidding of that evil man was because…"

"I was chained in the dungeon," Rin interrupted, Oreldo turned to her a glimmer of understanding appearing in his eyes.

"The commanding officer was you?" he murmured, remembering a conversation he had had with one of the men they had saved. Rin nodded before getting to her feet and placing her empty tea cup on the tray. She walked over to the window and stood looking down at the village below. The sun had begun to set, casting a golden glow over everything and the villagers who had been outside harvesting the crop started to walk back to their homes.

"It's getting late, I need to change your bandages," Rin stood and walked over to the room where Martis and Oland were resting.

When she opened the door Martis jumped to his feet and positioned himself in between her and Oland, she couldn't help but giggle at his determined face.

"At ease soldier, I'm not here to hurt anyone," she stepped into the room and moved out the way so that Alice and Oreldo could walk in, "please sit."

Oreldo walked up to Martis and pulled him down to sit on the couch next to him. Rin approached Martis and started to unwrap the bandage around his head, she gently felt the cut on his forehead and nodded, satisfied with how it had healed.

"You don't need this anymore," she threw the bandage into the bin by her feet, "now let's have a look at that arm of yours."

She unwrapped it and caught the splints before they could fall on the floor; she frowned for a second before picking a new bandage out of the box under the table. She replaced the splints and retied the bandage slightly tighter than it had been.

"Is that too tight?" she asked Martis who shook his head, "You'll have to keep that on for 3 months; it was a clean break so it should heal properly." She turned to Oreldo and unwrapped his head bandage and gently touched the back of his head, he winced slightly. She gently rewrapped his head and looked at Alice before standing. She slipped past her and walked up to Oland carrying her medical kit with her.

She sat next to him and pulled a pair of scissors out of her box, she started cutting the bandages that were wrapped around him, being careful not to go near any of his injuries. She gently pulled them away from the scabbing lines down his back; she heard Alice gasp behind her and turned to see a tear trickle down the lieutenant's cheek.

"Don't worry, they're already healing," Rin smiled at her, "Come, help me," she beckoned with her hand. Alice walked up to her and Rin passed a tub of strange smelling paste to her.

"Hold on for a second whilst I sit him up," Rin said starting to roll Randel onto his side, the three others stared at her in disbelieve unable to imagine this young woman holding up under the weight of the Corporal's unconscious body. She tenderly pulled his arms over her shoulders and pulled backwards being careful not to touch his back or to stretch the still weak scabs. Eventually she got him to sit up and put her head under his chin so that his head wouldn't flop forward.

"Ok, you can put the salve on his back now," she said cheerfully, giggling at the incredulous looks she was getting. Alice shook her head and reached out her hand to start putting the salve on Oland's back.

As soon as her fingers touched his back his eyes flickered open and he looked straight ahead of him with bleary eyes. He felt someone's head under his chin and lifted his head from the warm locks, looking down his eyes widened at the sight of a red haired woman looking up at him.

"Stay still," she whispered her voice lower and more powerful than he thought it would be. He felt a hand on his back and bit back a grunt as his wounds twitched in pain. He fought the impulse to look over his shoulder; he closed his eyes and focused on the hands on his back trying to figure out if he knew them.

"_They're small, delicate and they don't have any thick calluses, must be a woman," _he thought as he relaxed into the hand.

Alice felt the pressure between her hand and his back increase and realised he was leaning into it. Not wanting to hurt him she pulled her hand away and looked over his shoulder at Rin.

"Is that enough, I don't want to overdo it?" she said standing back to examine her handy work. Randel jumped at the sound of her voice and span around his eyes wide, she stared at him for a second before choking out a quiet sob. She placed a gentle hand on his face as she smiled through tears of joy.

"I was so worried when you didn't wake up," she hiccupped before feeling Oland's massive hand cover the top of her head and tousled her blonde hair. She looked at him with endearing eyes and went to wrap her arms around his neck before catching herself and coughed in embarrassment when she caught the smirk on the faces of Oreldo and Martis. She turned from the giant man who smiled to himself before turning back to Rin who had tapped him on the shoulder. She reached round him and started to wrap a bandage round his chest, once she was done she stood her hand tracing her work. Just before she walked away she reached out a stroked the long scar on his shoulder, he looked up and saw a sad look in her eyes for a moment. She turned and walked to the door; she put a hand on the door frame and turned back.

"It's late, you should all get some rest," she said before closing the door behind her.

Oreldo sighed and walked up to his bed, then turned to the lieutenant who hadn't moved.

"We should do as the 'doctor' ordered Ma'am," he said with a yawn.

"I can't sleep in here!" she stated before walking out the door and making her way to the over sized couch in the lounge.

"What was that about?" Oreldo grumbled, Martis pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Noble women can't just sleep in the same room as men, it's not done," he sniggered as he awkwardly climbed into bed his broken arm above the covers.

"Hey I've just noticed, do you think that that chick was the one who changed our clothes?" Oreldo looked down at the pyjamas he was wearing with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably," Martis shrugged before taking off his glasses and laying them on the bedside table.

"That's just weird," Oreldo muttered darkly before following Martis' example.

Randel sat staring at the door before getting up and taking the blanket and pillow off Alice's bed. He quietly walked out the door and found his commanding officer already asleep on the couch. He carefully lifted her head and slipped the pillow beneath it, then laid the blanket over her tiny frame before walking back to his room to rest.

1 week later

"Rin," Alice started as she sat on the step of the garage watching the red head tweak some minor details on Section 3's car, "I think it's about time for us to go back to headquarters. After all we have been away for such a long time without sending any word about our condition." Rin stopped and looked at the blonde who was avoiding eye contact.

"I have been in contact with your superior, a Captain Hunks," Alice's head shot up and an angry frown flashed to her face.

"Why haven't you told me about this?!" she demanded, her voice shrill. Rin turned fully to the petite woman in front of her, an eyebrow raised at the lieutenant's outburst.

"I didn't think it was necessary, oh and by the way he says to take as long as you need to be completely healed," Rin brushed past the furious woman and walked into the lounge where the men were sat.

"We're completely healed," Alice shouted at the top of her lungs before storming up to the red head. Rin's eyes narrowed dangerously and she turned from the blond taking a deep breath to calm herself.

"You are healed… no correction, you were fine when you got here," Rin sighed, "Oreldo's injury has healed, however, Oland and Martis are still recovering and you would be a fool to march them over the mountains in the condition they are in!" Her voice had a firm quality to it that instantly put a stop to any retorts Alice had wanted to say.

"Besides, your car isn't fixed yet," Rin filled a glass with water, took a long draught from it before setting it down gently and walked back to the garage.

"Ma'am, what was that about?" Oreldo looked at the lieutenant in confusion; she stayed still for a moment before turning to him.

"It's time to go, we're leaving now!" she walked out the front door, the three men looked at each other before running after her.

"Ma'am you heard what Rin said, the car's not fixed yet! We won't get very far," Martis said, trying to talk Alice out of leaving.

"You trust her more than me?!" she yelled at him, "Oland come on we're leaving," she marched through the yard.

"I thought I made it clear that you are to wait until your subordinates are healed," they heard a voice come from the side of the house and turned to see Rin leaning against the wall. Anger seemed to crackle around her like a living beast; Oland took a step backwards, closing the distance between him and Alice.

"Stop, right now!" the woman shouted firmly, her voice commanding and powerful, it was as if an unseen force had grabbed Oland's legs and was refusing to let him move them. With all of the strength that he could muster he pushed himself backwards and only just managed to put a foot down so that he didn't fall.

Suddenly Rin disappeared from his line of sight; he whipped around trying to find her. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of red and span to face it, before he knew what had happened his feet were kicked out from underneath him, he saw he come to stand next to him.

As Randle fell to the ground he felt her arm slip under him, slowing his fall, almost stopping him before he hit the floor. He landed on his front and felt her put her knee into the small of his back pinning him to the ground. Her hand, which gripped his shoulder, was curled into talons and they tore easily through his skin causing him to inhale in pain.

"Stop!" she ordered, the last sound resounding in a low growl that seemed to chill the air. As soon as Rin had spoken Randle remembered where he had seen her before.

_Flash Back_

Randle's company stood outnumbered with their backs against a wall. For the first time ever fear crept into their hearts. A whole regiment of foot soldiers surrounded them; too scared to attack but too proud to turn tail and run for their lives. By the shout of an unseen opponent the soldiers started their advance, closing in on them. As he stared into the hatred filled eyes of his enemy Randle doubted that he would see another sunrise.

Suddenly a dash of red flickered next to him and the slow encroachment became a panicked war zone. The enemy soldiers started swinging their swords this way and that, trying to kill the strange dash of crimson which darted in and out of enemy lines. Everywhere it touched blood seemed to bloom like flowers; the remaining soldiers saw that they could not defeat the foe and fled for their lives; however they did not get far. An unknown enemy, just out of Randle's line of sight shouted an order and there was a roar of gunfire. He heard the cries of dying men and lifted the lever on his lantern hiding the blue will-of-a-wisp light from view.

He turned to see a sight that made him fall to his knees and retch with grief; all of his comrades had been killed in the commotion, from stray gun shots and sword swings. Though he himself had been cut deeply across the shoulder and slashed straight across the face, he hadn't expected his friends to have fared worse than he had, as he was closer to the battle than they had been, nor did he expect them to succumb to their injuries.

"Help him!" a voice ordered, "See if anyone else is still alive." Just before he blacked out from loss of blood, Randle looked up to see a young girl holding twin, two blade, katanas and had a head of red hair, which seemed as if she had dyed her hair in the blood of all those she had killed.

_End of flash back_

"You're…" he started only to have a gentle finger placed on his lips silencing him.

"Not here corporal Oland, wait until we get inside," the girl got to her feet and put a gentle hand under his chin and raised his head so that she could see his face. She tenderly stroked the scar that stretched from one side of his face to the other as she sadly looked into his eyes.

"It healed well," she murmured, he stared up at her as if caught in a spell.

As Alice watched she saw wings unfurling on Rin's back and they curled round Randle. She looked at Rin and saw that she wore a gentle expression on her face; it was as if she was looking at her child. She watched in silence a tear escape and trickle down Rin's cheek, Randle reached up slowly and wiped it away with a shaky finger.

Rin leant down and pulled Randle's arm over head and pulled him up off the floor; he gritted his teeth from the pain of his wounds. She half carried him back to the house and gently set him on the sofa; she walked over to the cupboard and pulled out her medical kit. She turned back to them and ignored their questioning expressions.

She quickly cleaned and bandaged Oland's wounds so that the wont get infected.

"How do you know the Corporal?" Alice asked though she wasn't sure that she wanted to know the answer. Rin sighed and walked away from them, she stood looking out of the window. As she watched, snow began to fall, dancing in the wind as it twirled towards the ground.

"Before I answer your question you should know that you can no longer leave this village," she said turning her empty eyes onto the group behind her.

"W…What do you mean by that? Is that a threat!?" Alice snapped, her hand clutching the hilt of her sword ready to draw it. As she began to slide it from its sheath Rin disappeared. Alice looked down to see what her sword had caught on and saw Rin's hand holding the end of it so that it couldn't be pulled from the sheath. She then felt Rin's presence behind her fading into existence, Alice froze in fear.

"How….?"

"I am not threatening you; I am merely stating the facts. Snow falls early in this part due to the surrounding mountains and whilst these mountains hide us from unfriendly eyes they become treacherous during the winter. Avalanches and landslips are common up there; many people have died trying to find shelter in our village," Rin said quietly as she walked away from the still froze Lieutenant.

Martis pushed up his glasses and sighed.

"That makes sense," he muttered as he made himself more comfortable on the sofa.

"Please Alice, take a seat…that is, if you want to know about my connection to the Corporal," Rin yawned as she pulled up a dining chair from the nearby table.

Alice slowly walked over, sat down next to Randle and waited for Rin to start her story.

"As you know there were a group of battalions that were kept secret even to the higher ups of the military. Orland here is from such a battalion, the 901 ATT if I'm not mistaken," Randle nodded, "there are 9 battalions in all."

"What does this have to do with how you know Oland?" Oreldo said holding the bridge of his nose.

"I'm getting to that. I am from the 909 SAT a Stealth Assassin Trooper," Rin laughed at the sudden look of fear that passed over everyone's face with the exception of Randle.

"On one battle field something went wrong and my battalion were not able to keep out of the way of the usual fighting and so we joined the fray, though I have to admit we were all looking forward to it. Towards the end of the battle my battalion came across Randle's unit which had been surrounded and backed in a corner by a large number of foot soldiers, which as you guys should know, aren't the best enemy for the ATT." She took a breath and looked at Randle who was frowning.

"Do you want me to stop there, Randle?" Rin asked watching the corporal's facial expression; he looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"They might as well know the rest, it can't hurt," Randle sighed and Rin nodded in acknowledgement.

"My Battalion attacked the foot soldiers and took them out, however the casualties to the 901st unit were severe, only one trooper from that unit survived and he has been badly hurt. That man was Randle. We in the 909th took him with us and cared for him until one day he just disappeared," Rin lifted an eyebrow with a smile on her face when she saw Randle blush.

"I couldn't stay in bed whilst there was a war going on," he muttered and flinched when he saw Alice throw his a furious glare.

"I'm guessing he's done the same to you guys then," Rin laughed as she saw Martis and Oreldo nod.

"Anyhoo, that's the story of how I know the Corporal."

"If you don't mind me asking, what rank were you in your battalion?" Martis enquired; Rin looked at him and smiled gently.

"It doesn't matter, I was always the one to clean up after everyone," She stood and walked over to the kitchen area and began to get out pans and ingredients.

"Right then, Alice and I are going to cook dinner," Rin said as she carried on pattering around the kitchen.

"What? But I've never cooked something in my life!" Alice blushed furiously. Rin laughed and beckoned her over.

"No time like the present to learn something," Rin said as she held out an apron to the Lieutenant.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After two months

BANG BANG!

"Rin!" a male voice came from the other side of the door.

"What is it?" Rin ripped the door open to see a frantic man stood in front of her. He turned so that she could see past him and saw a couple of people carrying a stretcher up the hill.

"Alice, get a bed ready for a patient!" Rin yelled before running down the hill, disappearing from sight.

Alice ran to the ward room and had just finished making the bed when Rin ran through the door and laid the patient on the bed. The patient was a young boy who was covered in mud and had an awkwardly bent leg which was bleeding rather severely.

"A child!" she looked at the man who walked in panting, "Why is this child in such a state?"

"He was training in the forest and put a foot wrong, he trapped his leg in a fork of a branch and his body just carried on going forward," He said just before Rin ushered him out of the door.

"Go to the lounge and wait there," she ordered before closing the door.

"This is going to be painful for the boy," Rin said as she prepared to grab his leg. Alice put a stick wrapped in clean fabric in the child's mouth, between the upper and lower rows of teeth so that he wouldn't bite his tongue during the immense pain he was about to experience.

"Ready?" Rin asked Alice who held the boy's shoulders tightly so that he wouldn't be able to move.

"Okay! 3, 2," Run pulled the child's leg firmly until it disappeared back under the skin and in an instant she put a splint tightly around his leg to keep the bone in place. Then, when it was secure, she sewed up the large cut and then cleaned his leg before bandaging it.

As soon as she had touched the child's leg, he screamed in agony and thrashed trying to make her let go. Once she had finished she grabbed a clean cloth and wiped the sweat from his brow. He whimpered in his feverish sleep.

Rin walked to the door and called the child's father before turning back, picking up the child and settled him down on one of the beds and covered him with a blanket so that he wouldn't get a chill in his shocked state. She then walked up to Alice who was stood shaking, staring at her hands.

Wiping her hands on the cloth which hung from her belt, Rin stood next to the blonde lieutenant and watched the father of the child pull up a chair so that he could sit next to his son.

"You did a good job," Rin said quietly putting a hand on Alice's shoulder. The young lieutenant looked up at the commanding, fiery haired woman and slowly nodded before looking back at the peaceful scene in front of them.

The father turned in Rin's direction as she walked up to him, his eyes eager for new on his son's condition.

"He'll be alright. A weeks rest will see him back to normal and he'll have to keep all his weight off that leg for at least 7 weeks. The wound will scar but it will only be a thin line, a warning to him not to play around in trees whilst there's snow on the ground," she said gently, the sparkle in her eye spoke of her unvoiced laughter as she saw the man's ears turn red in embarrassment.

She turned to Alice and smiled.

"Come, I'll take you home," Rin said, giving Alice a little push to make her start moving.

"But… what if you have another patient?" Alice asked as she was led through the door, Rin laughed.

"Don't worry about it; I can deal with anything that turns up. You just happened to see one of the worst case scenarios, they happen once in a blue moon," she shrugged before linking arms with Alice and walking to her home. As they were walking up the path to Alice's house, the door opened and Randle stepped outside.

"I wondered where you were," he smiled down at Alice who blushed.

"I'll leave you two alone then," Rin said turning around and walking away waving; leaving a blushing pair in her wake. Whilst she was walking home someone appeared next to her and matched his pace with hers.

"It's been a while," his deep voice rumbled. Rin looked at him and grinned.

"That it has," she laughed as they made their way up the hill. As soon as they entered her house, the man knelt down with his head lowered.

"My report, Ma'am," he said formally, Rin tutted and put a hand on his shoulder.

"So serious! Come on, I can hear your report whilst drinking a cup of tea," she led the man to the kitchen and boiled enough water for two cups then made a pot of tea and brought it to the table.

"Please sit," she motioned to him as she sat. He quickly sat and waited patiently for her to pour the tea. Once she had done so he took a quick sip before starting his report.

"Section 3 headquarters is in an uproar. Alice is a Malvin, one of the 13 grand houses, not only that but she is the heir. As a noble, many are being lead to believe that she has been kidnapped," he began, watching Rin frown into her cup.

"They decided on a rescue mission but couldn't breach the mountains due to the snow. They will try again in the spring," she said keeping his voice low, sensing that they weren't the only ones in the house.

"Their spring comes later than ours so we should be able to lead Alice and the rest of them back to their headquarters before the rescue team even leave," Rin said, her blue eyes staring out the window.

"Spring will hit in two months time," he said, she nodded and took a sip of her tea. He put his empty cup down and walked around the table to kneel down in front of her.

"Keep an eye on them," she got up and walked to a desk and took out a letter, "give this to Captain Hunks," she gave him the envelope. He took it, pushed it into his inside breast pocket before bowing and running out of the door. She watched him leave with a thoughtful frown on her face.

**Sorry it's a short chapter; stay tuned for the next instalment!**


	5. Chapter 5

1 month later

"Rin!" the red haired woman turned to see Alice waving frantically at her.

"What's the matter?" she ran up to her, almost too fast to see, her eyes searching for any injury on Alice's body.

"Nothing bad, don't worry. Come with me," she grabbed Rin's hand and ran off in a different direction, dragging her along. She dragged her to the house that she and Randle shared, she threw open the door and kicked off her shoes.

"Randle I brought her," Alice yelled, she was acting like a little child, the way she was running around. Rin followed her slowly unsure of why the blonde lieutenant was acting so strangely.

"Miss Rin, thank you for coming," Randle said when she walked in. She turned and saw that Oreldo and Martis were already sat in the room, their expressions showing that they were also confused. She shut the door behind her and leant against it.

"I know you are all confused but we want you guys to know before anyone else," Alice took a deep breath and looked at the tall man beside her, "We're going to get married," she laughed and hugged her fiancé.

"It's about time!" Oreldo yelled as he ran up and shook hands with Randle. Rin watched the happy celebration in front of her before turning away and disappearing through the door she had been leaning on. Despite the fact that Alice and Randle would be good for each other and that they would be happy together, she knew that because of Alice's noble status they would have a hard time getting their marriage recognised by her family and class.

She walked out and stood on the village wall watching the wind dance through the evergreen trees which carpeted the mountains.

"Rin?" Alice's voice sounded behind her, "do you disapprove?"

"No Alice, I don't. It's just I know that you will struggle when you get back home. After all, you are part of one of the 13 grand houses and he is merely a corporal who doesn't even have a home," Rin said looking away from the blond who looked like she was about to cry. Rin sighed and turned to the woman who was turning away from her.

"I give you my blessing Alice," Rin smiled at the shocked blond who span round to look at her, "And just so you know, you will always have a home with us." Alice burst into tears and ran up to her, throwing her arms round her in a bear hug as she sobbed.

"I was worried that I was going to become homeless," she choked out; Rin put her chin on the top of the shorter woman's head, chuckling softly.

"Rin, I've realised something," Alice said quietly after she had calmed down, "I have found peace by living life as a normal person. I now see how wasteful my life as a noble was, the food that I ate would have been able to feed so many people and I took it for granted. I hate my old life as a noble, living in such comfort now feels like a dream, no more like a nightmare," she growled as she stared into the distance. Rin looked at her and sighed.

"Don't hate your noble life, learn from it and see where you can make changes that will help those less fortunate than you," Rin said smiling gently.

"I want to throw myself into the war relief effort, I want to help people," Alice said her hands fisted in determination.

"Maybe I'll come help you one day," Rin laughed as she walked away back to her home. Alice laughed with her thinking that Rin was making a joke at her.

"There will be a wedding here in our village, I would like you to get the green ready," She said to a village in passing, the man bowed and ran off.

Rin stopped before reaching her home and turned, her eyes fixed on something beyond the mountains. A gust of wind swept up the hill and tossed her hair. She took a deep breath and something flickered in her eyes.

"Ma'am?" a voice asked from behind her, "is something wrong?"

"The wind is growing warmer, spring is about to begin," she whispered. The wind picked up and threw her hair around her shoulders, causing it to blaze in the light of the setting sun. The red of the sky glinted in her eyes causing the oceans in them to become alight with an unearthly fire as the sun slipped from the sky.

"Soon it will be time to take our visitors home," she turned to look at the man, a sad glint in her eyes. The man nodded before walking up to her, though he stopped before he stood beside her.

"You know they are going to have problems when they return home, why don't you use your status to help get their marriage recognised?" the man asked. She turned her blazing eyes on him and he quickly sank to his knees, his head bowed.

"I will not use the status granted to me by birth to force people to accept what they cannot understand! I will use my rank, the one I earn't for MYSELF to help them," she growled.

"Forgive me, I meant no offence," he said, his head almost touching the ground as he bowed even lower.

"Please stand," she sighed as she crouched and put a hand on the man's shoulder so that when he looked up he had to look into her eyes.

"Go, make sure that all the preparations are ready for the wedding. On second thought," her eyes narrowed as she frowned, "bring Alice to me, though do not let her see any of the preparations that you are making."

Half an hour later Alice was brought to Rin's house; she hadn't moved from her crouched position and so, due to the darkness that had fallen, she was now invisible to the pair as they climbed up the hill. She sat there thinking, her eyes vaguely registered them; they walked past her and into the house behind her, she could hear them looking around the house for her but didn't turn.

"Where is she?" Alice asked, Rin sighed and stood before silently walking up to her house and entering it through an open window. She passed through the shadows to her room. She opened the cupboard and pulled out a dress and hung it out in her room. She stepped back and stared at it for a moment before nodding to herself. She walked out of her room and gently said Alice's name, although she said it quietly her voice echoed around the house and Alice heard it clearly.

"Rin, I've been searching all over for you! What's the matter? Why did you want to see me?" Alice ran up to her, the man bowed out of the line of sight of the blonde lieutenant and left.

"You walked straight past me," Rin laughed before a serious expression took over her face and she looked up and down at Alice.

"You have only worn men's clothing since you have come here. I've never seen you in a dress…Do you even have a dress to wear at your wedding?"she asked. Alice looked away blushing and shook her head.

"I think I have just the thing," Rin laughed, "close your eyes." She led Alice into the room and stood her in front of the dress.

"Okay, open your eyes," she whispered, anxious to know how Alice would react to the gown in front of them. Alice opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of the ivory dress which had a corset top covered in gold embroidered flowers, she slowly walked up to it and ran her hand across it.

"It's beautiful," she breathed before spinning to look at Rin.

"It would honour me if you wore it down the aisle tomorrow," Rin said looking at the dress. Alice stood there gaping at her, shocked at the offer.

"Seriously?" she asked, not believing that this woman, who had become to take the place of Alice's mother, would give her such a beautiful dress.

"Oh and just so you know," Rin turned and grinned at her, "I'm only lending you the dress, it is precious to me." Alice's expression fell and she sniggered.

"Don't worry," she said sitting on her bed, "I have a camera so that the moment will be captured for all time."

Alice clapped her hands in excitement and hugged the red haired woman, her grateful smile lighting up her face.

"You will stay here tonight," she said, Alice looked at her confused, "after all, the groom shouldn't see his bride before the wedding." Alice laughed and nodded, she ran home to tell Randle that she was staying with Rin for the night.

* * *

"You ready?" Rin asked Alice as they stood outside the hall doors, all the villagers waited inside for the wedding ceremony to begin; she nodded, her whole body shaking from nerves.

"I'm right beside you," Rin said handing the blond woman her bouquet of winter flowers. Alice took a deep breath before walking up to the doors which opened inwardly as she reached them. She looked up to the end of the aisle and saw Randle's shocked expression as he took in the sight of her in the wedding dress. The sight of him standing there caused all the fear in her to fade away, he was her fiancé and soon to be husband. A smile filled her face and a skip entered her step, she had to force herself not to run down the aisle to him. She blushed when she heard Rin snigger at her behaviour, luckily all the people in the pews were busy admiring the way she looked. A wide grin spread across Randle's face as Alice walked up to him and placed her delicate hand in his. They walked up to the registrar who began the service. Rin stood at the back of the hall in a protective position out of habit.

"Mi'lady," Rin heard a whisper beside her and looking down, saw the spy she had sent to Captain Hunks.

"Your report?" her eyes scanning the room to see whether anyone had noticed his arrival but everyone was focused on the couple who were exchanging their vows.

"The mountain pass has cleared and there is no risk of an avalanche, Captain Hunks has sent word that he would pass on your message to the few who needed to know," the man said, his head bowed as her crouched on the floor.

"Looks like we will be setting off in two days time," Rin said leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

"Forgive my impertinence, but why two days? Why not tomorrow?" he asked with a frown. She looked down at him, the sad expression on her face making him flinch.

"I want them to have at least one day as a married couple around people who accept them," she said knowing how hard it would be for them to live a peaceful life after they have returned to their hometown. The man looked at her for a moment before nodding, though Rin could tell that he didn't quite understand.

"I'll tell Alice tomorrow," she whispered and joined in the applause as Randle kissed Alice for the first time.

"Start getting supplies ready, Section 3 will be travelling in their car and I'll go via motorbike," she muttered. The man bowed and disappeared just before the newly married couple started to walk down the aisle hand in hand.

"Congratulations," Rin whispered in Alice's ear when she hugged her as they walked through the doors. They walked out of the hall and Rin led them to the top table.

"Forgive me but I must patrol the way as all the patrol members will be at your reception," she smiled apologetically, Alice laughed.

"Don't worry about it," she smiled, her happiness causing her face to glow. Rin bowed and jogged away towards the outskirts of the village. Silently she ran across the plain and up the forested mountain path. She revelled in the freedom she felt as she ran without limit to her speed. There were no prying eyes to watch her let loose with her strength. Her muscles began to relax in the freedom they had been given, unused to the deliberately slow movements she had been forced to make around section 3, not wanting to scare them with her inhuman strength and senses.

She soon reached the pass between the mountains and started towards the massive silhouette of the Capital City. She had a task that only she could complete and she knew that she only had a night to do it in.

It was near dawn by the time Rin returned, a sullen look on her face, whilst the gist of her mission had been completed she knew that she would have to finalise the arrangements when she took the members of section 3 back home.

As she walked into the Village the watchman walked out of his house and greeted her.

"How was your run?" he asked, his eyes glittering in caged laughter, she had never seen him without a smile on his face, though on the battle field it was a forced expression.

"It was exactly what I needed," she laughed, they spoke quietly as not many would be awake at that hour, not after the party.

"How far did you go?" he asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"The city," she shrugged, only to giggle at the shocked expression on his face.

"You never cease to amaze me, Ma'am," he said running a hand through his hair, "it would take a car a day to get there and back again if it turned around at the city gates, and yet you did it in one night by foot," a laugh bubbled up in his throat and he sniggered.

"Glad village life hasn't changed you; in fact I think that you have grown even stronger," he crouched and bowed his head before taking his leave for his post.

She slowly climbed up the hill smiling to herself as she was greeted by another early rising villager.

"Ma'am, begging your pardon but you look pale. Have you slept well?" the woman asked, Rin laughed delicately and shook her head.

"I have just returned from patrol, I'm off to rest now. If there are any emergencies wake me, if not please let me sleep," the woman bowed to her and carried on with her daily chores. Rin knew that word would be passed around so she made no attempt to tell anyone else.

After reaching her home, Rin took her shoes off at the front door and slowly walked to her room. She wasn't tired but she knew that she would be losing sleep in the next few days so her body was telling her to get as much rest as possible. She fell onto her bed fully clothed and pulled the quilt over herself before falling fast asleep, her breathing almost silent as she curled under the covers.

* * *

She slowly opened her eyes, the sound of chains and the feeling of being caged faded away with her sleep.

"That dream again," she muttered pinching the bridge of her nose, "It seems like it is time to move on, I've been running away from myself for far too long." She sat up, her eyes glinting in the gloom of the room. She quickly changed and walked into the garage and set to work fine tuning the vehicles they were going to use the next day. Once she had finished working on her motor bike she threw a dust sheet over it, to protect it.

She walked out of the house and down the hill, heading for Alice's and Randle's home. She knocked on the door and then sat on the wall in front of their house.

"Hello?" She heard Alice's voice from behind her.

"Over here," Rin called gently as she rested one foot on the top of the wall, leaning against her leg. Alice walked out and a smile bloomed on her face when she saw the red head sitting there.

"Married life seems to suit you," Rin chuckled as Alice sat down beside her, a slight wince clouding her face for a moment. Alice blushed and looked away making Rin laugh out loud.

"Rin please," Alice muttered embarrassed, Rin sighed before running her hand through her long hair, her eyes becoming sad.

"Alice," the blond flinched at the sudden change in her voice, "the snow blocking the way back to your home town has melted. We will be leaving this village … We meaning Section 3 and myself. I cannot allow the army to become a threat to this village, the peace in this place has would be destroyed and I cannot, will not let that happen!" Rin said, fisting her hand. Alice understood her desperate need to protect her home but she was afraid to return home so soon after marrying Oland. Rin put a hand on her shoulder, giving the blond the little bit of support she needed.

"Alice, I'm sorry I have to force this upon you so quickly but we will make a move tomorrow at dawn," Rin stood and jumped off the wall leaving the lieutenant sat there stunned.

"Very well," She whispered to herself, knowing that it had to be done. Alice walked into the house and told Randle everything that Rin had said and he too understood her reasons. He past the message onto Martis and Oreldo who made sure that they were packed for the time they moved out the next day.

The villagers set up a party to say goodbye to them which lasted well into the night and only stopped when Rin told them that Section 3 had to go to sleep as they only had 6 hours left unit they were going to leave.

* * *

The next day they set off just as the dawn began to colour the skies above. The deep growl of Rin's custom made bike echoed off the mountains like a beast protecting its territory. The amphibious car which Section 3 rode in purred almost silently behind Rin as she led them through the twisted mountain path. It only took them two hours to reach the other side of the mountain ridge but already they missed the peaceful village they had come to call home. Rin caught Alice's soft sigh and looked at her to see her staring behind them in the direction of the village.

"Alice, you have to do this," she whispered to the blond lieutenant who nodded reluctantly.

"I know, but why did it have to be so soon," she sighed.

"You will find that peaceful times are often disrupted by unrest and war," Rin looked away from them to study the distance, "I was born and raised during the war so it was the only thing I have ever known. That village is my peace wholly and completely, but it is not the buildings or scenery which give the place such a feeling of peace, though it does help. It is the people and the knowledge that those people are happy, healthy and strong." Alice stared at Rin for a moment before realising that her peace was the same as Rin's, though on a much smaller scale, her peace came in the midst of a mission when Section 3 were together, laughing and having a good time, revelling in their friendship. Rin looked at her for a moment before driving in front of the car, she accurately let them through the safest trails that hadn't been overgrown. It was a longer route than the one she had taken in her patrol; she wasn't impatient, she wanted this point in time to last for a long time, the laughter shared by Martis and Oreldo caused the strained feeling to pass. Trees with emerald leaves past by as they drove up the mountain track, as they reached the crest of the mountain Rin stopped her motorbike.

"Are you ready for this?" She asked, staring at the behemoth that was the Capital City, their destination.

"Not really but Randle is my husband and I will fight to keep it that way," her eyes shone with determination and Randle turned to smile at her.

"Sounds about right," Rin laughed flicking her red hair over her shoulder, "we should get this over and done with. Might as well return in style. You up for driving at my speed, Martis?" The glint in her eye challenging him, he grinned and revved the engine of the car.

"Lady and Gentlemen, hold onto your hats and enjoy the ride," she laughed revving the bike and spinning it so the vehicle was facing the direction they were going. The bike snarled as she released the break and sped down the mountain track, she heard Martis chase after her; her red hair flashing behind her, flickering like fire.

They hit the plain and kicked up dust, creating a dusk cloud behind them. Rin knew that the guards at the City gate would be able to see them and so would alert the army, therefore word that Section 2 had returned would be spread quickly. Halfway across the plain Rin could hear the City's alarm ringing echoing across the land.

"They've noticed us," she called back as she shot across the plain, she hunkered down flat against her bike urging it to go faster. She could feel the urgency in the people behind her which subconsciously made her speed up. She skidded to a stop 20 meters outside the city gate, her ears twitching at the sounds on guns being cocked. She held her hand out to warn Section 3, Martis understood and braked sharply skidding to a stop.

"We are Section 3 of the imperial army. I am Lieutenant Alice Malvin, I demand you let us in," Alice cried out, her voice shrill.

"How can we believe you? The members of Section 3 have been kidnapped and are being held by a group of savages across the mountains!" A male voice shouted down, suspicion piercing through his voice.

"Then call a member of the nobility here, they should be able to vouch for me. Plus look," she pulled out her sword from its sheath and removed the hilt, showing the Malvin family crest.

"No need," a smooth voice said as the city doors, the hairs on the back of Rin's neck stood up and she couldn't help the snarl that ripped from her throat.

"Lionel," Alice whispered, she looked down in guilt and leant back towards Randle.

"Princess, welcome back," the blond haired man walked up to them. He froze at the cold look in Rin's eyes, he felt the thrill of excitement at the chilling challenge they gave him.

"Your eyes, I like them," he grinned, his eyes taking a blood thirsty glint, his body tensed, though invisible to the untrained eye.

"Back off cub," Rin snarled, her hair slipping around her neck giving the appearance of a mane; Lionel's eyes widened in shock of the nickname.

"How…" he caught himself and ran a hand through his hair, he took in a deep breath.

"I suppose it's you I have to thank for bringing my Princess home," he said in a calm voice.

"I'm sorry," Rin sneered, "But I haven't brought back anything that belongs to you." She started up her bike engine and nodded at Martis to do the same, they sped past the shocked man and carried on through the streets, just about keeping to the speed limits that had been put in place.

They pulled up outside the army building and quickly removed themselves from the vehicle before rushing to their superior officer, a captain by the name of Hunks. As soon as they opened the door to their office Rin smiled at the view she saw. The Captain's desk was ladened with unopened letters and a thin column of smoke rose skyward from behind them. She couldn't resist the small chuckle that rose from her throat.

"You shouldn't smoke too near to paper, Captain. What would you do if the whole lot caught ablaze?" she asked, a grin on her face.

"Probably shout for joy. After all, these letters aren't requesting help. They are all sympathy letters saying "I hope you find them soon"." She heard his gruff reply. He stood and faced them, a shocked expression flashed across his face before a gentle smile settled in its place.

"It's good to see you all again," he spoke softly, his words expressed all the worry he had felt for them and at last they felt like they had returned home.

A crash was heard behind them and they all turned to see Lili standing there with her hands covering her mouth, the look of pure shock on her face. Rin looked down and saw what had been a fresh cup of tea but was now a pile of shattered pottery in a puddle. She vaguely heard Captain Hunks mutter "oh well" under her breath and sniggered into a fist.

"Oreldo? Martis? Randle?" she turned to the lieutenant, "Miss Alice!" her eyes filled with tears.

"We're home," Alice whispered hugging the girl who froze with surprise before returning the embrace.

"I'll leave you to get these two up to date," Rin turned and started to walk out of the room, she was stopped when she felt Alice's hands surround hers.

"Thank you so much," Alice whispered, a smile on her face.

"It was my pleasure," Rin said, patting the woman on her shoulder before walking out of the door.

"Who was that?" Lili asked staring at the empty door way.

"She's the village doctor from where we were living over the winter," Alice began her story about what had happened during the short few months they had lived in the village beyond the mountains.

"Are you serious!? You and Randle got MARRIED?!" Lili cried shrilly in astonishment.

"Yes," Alice smiled up at the tall man by her side and intertwined their fingers. Captain Hunks face palmed and sighed heavily.

"I know the risks but I love Randle and don't want to be a part from him," Alice stated, Randle blushed and Hunks snorted.

"We have no problems, do we Lili?" Captain Hunks said, Lili looked round and shook her head.

"No problem at all Sir, I'm just shocked," Lili defended her self.

"Have you told your family yet?" the Captain looked at Alice who looked away guiltily.

"No, I haven't visited them yet," she mumbled biting her bottom lip.

"Now we know you're safe, I suggest you go and tell them that you are home. They have been worried," Hunks reasoned before opening his newspaper, a sign of dismissal. Alice sighed and turned to Randle who nodded, knowing what she was going to say.

"Martis, would you give us a ride?" Alice asked the glasses wearing man.

"Of course," he walked out of the room with them; Alice's pale complexion was paler than normal due to her nerves.

"Don't worry," Randle said gently squeezing her tiny hand, "I'm here with you." She looked up at him with a grateful smile.

As they got into the car, Alice noticed that Rin's bike was gone and for a fleeting moment she wondered where the red head had disappeared to.

The journey to her house was done in silence, everyone too caught up in their own thoughts to make any conversation. Alice sighed in defeat as soon as her family gates came into view; she watched them close behind her and felt trapped, as if someone had put her into a cage.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered under her breath as Martis parked in front of the double door entrance. Randle climbed out of the car and held his hand out for her, she grabbed it with a smile and gracefully got out of the car. She walked up to the door and reached up to use the door knocker. The booming sound echoed through the air and after a moment the door opened. The servant took one look at her before running away only to return with her two sisters.

"ALICE?" Elis cried as she pulled the petite blond into her arms. Tears streaked down her face as she clutched the lieutenant for dear life.

"I thought we had lost you. After we heard that you and your platoon had been kidnapped and that rescue teams couldn't get over the mountains because of the snow, we had all but given up hope," Soli explained, "Where have you been all this time?"

"On our way back from our latest job we were attacked by bandits who used a cannon to overturn our car. Luckily for us Rin was hunting those bandits and come to our aid. After noticing what bad shape we were in, she took us to her village to recover. However by the time all our wounds were fully healed winter had set in and therefore the mountains were impassable. So we have been living at the village for several months and I must say that a lot has happened," Alice explained before looking up and smiling at Randle who returned the gesture; an exchange that didn't go unnoticed by the two Malvin sisters.

"Are you sure that this Rin was not a bandit herself?" Soli asked. Alice's eyes met hers in a flash, a furious glint glowing in them causing the blond elder sister to step back.

"Don't you dare insult Rin. She has done more for me than you know," she snarled, her body tensed ready for a fight. Randle sighed and put his large hands on her shoulders.

"Alice," he warned, she started and then relaxed leaning back against her chest. He enclosed his arms around her and held her to him, stunning her sisters into silence.

"What is the meaning of this?" an angry voice roared from the top of the stairs, heavy footsteps echoing around the room.

"Father," Alice whispered. Fear welled up inside her as she saw her father's expression.

"Unhand my daughter," his piercing eyes snapped to Randle who let his arms fall limply by his side, "Lord Lionel has been here countless times over the last few months hoping for some word of you, he even tried to scale the mountains to find you. He was found unconscious by a group of men who had been sent out to search for him. And yet, despite this, when you return you let a man who is neither family nor your intended embrace you in such a familiar manner," he took a deep breath to carry on but Alice interrupted.

"Randle is family, Father," she said, her voice loud. The man's eyes widened and his face creased into a furious expression.

"Explain yourself?!" he ordered before walking away, "Follow!"

"Randle, wait here for me," Alice looked at her husband before following her father. Randle frowned and nodded watching the petite blond as she walked up the stairs and disappeared round the corner.

Half an hour later the man Alice called Father walked out of the door, his youngest daughter nowhere in sight.

"It's time you took your leave, young man," he ordered Randle.

"Where's Alice?!" the tall man cried, he was stopped from rushing up the stairs by the family guards.

"I don't see any reason to tell you where my daughter is, now go!" Sir Malvin roared, Randle was thrown out of the door and down the steps where he stayed for a moment stunned.

"Alice," he whispered as the double doors slammed shut.

"Come on Corporal, we have to go or we will be arrested," Martis cried as he helped the giant man into the car and drove away as fast as he could.

Inside the mansion the sound of banging and muffled yells could be heard.

"Please let me out," Alice cried out at the top of her voice as she fell to her knees sobbing. There were no sounds coming from outside telling Alice that no one was coming to her aid.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pumpkin Scissors or any of the characters**

**Please review!**

Alice looked up when she heard the lock of her door turn and looked up just as it swung open. She was shocked to see her father standing in front of her, his expression still held shame and disappointment but there was something new in his eyes. Acceptance.

He held the door open with a white knuckled fist before sighing and walking away.

"You are no longer the heir of this family. I want you to leave this house right now," he turned and looked at her sharply, "the next time you see me, you will be a commoner." Without another word he walked away leaving her to pack her bags. Tears slowly trickled down her face as she ran around her room grabbing a couple of clothes and stuffing them into a small sack.

She ran out of her room and down the stairs trying not to look at the disappointment on the faces of her sisters as they stood at the top of the stairs. She ran out of the house and saw Martis sat waiting in the Section 3's amphibian vehicle.

"Lieutenant," he called as she walked out of the house she had grown up in. She ran over to him and jumped into the car after throwing her bag into the back. Without saying a word, Martis started the engine and drove off leaving behind the only home she had ever known.

As they parked and walked through the army's barracks she tried to ignore the hurtful glares from the aristocrats who had bought their way into their position. The concept of a noble woman marrying a man of low birth was unheard of. She shut the door to Section 3's office and fell to her knees, the strength leaving her legs.

"Alice," a deep soft voice gently called her name and she looked up to see Randle crouched in front of her, a worried expression on his face.

"This is all I am now," she whispered fighting back tears, "I am just Alice, the lieutenant of state section 3."

"Look at me," he said sliding a finger under her chin and lifting her head, making her look at him, "the woman I married was you, not your title nor your wealth. You!" He spoke firmly, she stared at him as tears pooled in her eyes and streamed down her face. The door opened behind them and Captain Hunks walked in, his pipe wobbling as he mashed the end of it with his teeth.

"The whole of section 3 has been ordered in front of his royal majesty tonight at the ball he is throwing. We are to wear full military gear," he grunted as he sat down, "he wishes to make a sceptical of us."

Everyone in the room paled and tried not to look at Alice and Randle, as it was their union that had landed them in the mess they were in, despite the fact that Martis and Oreldo had been happy, joyful even, about their marriage.

"Then we will go, with our heads held high. We have done nothing to be ashamed of after all we did nothing wrong," Alice said, standing up her hands squeezed into fists.

The journey to the palace was done in silence, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Every now and then Alice could feel the eyes of her subordinates on her, an accusing glint in their eyes. None of them had dreamed that they would be ordered in front of the Emperor to entertain the entire 13 grand houses of which she was once a part of.

"Don't forget to hold your heads up high," Captain Hunks growled, "We'll show these noble scum that we are proud beings too."

They all nodded, determination rooted itself in Alice's eyes as she tweaked her uniform so that it sat straighter. Oreldo watched Randle study her for a moment before mimicking her posture, he smiled despite himself and sighed.

"Ahh, what the heck. We're all in this together," he smirked as he pulled a brush out of his pocket and fixed his hair, Martis snorted and cleaned his glasses.

After that , the tension between the members of Section 3 fooled as they had become united in mind and heart they were going to make the nobles eat their sneered words.

The truck stopped outside the main doors of the palace, the music from inside wafting to where they sat.

"Ok this is it?" Captain Hunks led the way with Alice and Randle close behind. Lili, Oreldo and Martis bringing up the rear; Mercury ran to the front and walked beside the Captain.

As soon as the doors opened the music stopped, the silence almost deafening. All eyes in the room turned to look at them as they made their way towards the platform at the end of the hall where the Emperor sat on his throne.

"At last you have arrived," a deep voice rang through the hall, all the quiet whispering instantly stopped. Section 3 knelt down in front of the throne and sat looking at the floor.

"I have heard your story from some of the nobles, however I would like to hear what actually happened from you," the Emperor said, a gasp echoed around the room.

"If I may, Your Majesty," Captain Hunks started, "I would like Lieutenant Alice to answer this question. After all, she did live through the months they were over the mountains." The Emperor nodded and motioned for Alice to begin her account.

"The Pumpkin Scissors platoon were sent to a small village in the south which had been complaining about the lack of food supplies they had been receiving. When we got there it seemed as though bandits had been intercepting the supply trains, but before we had arrived, the bandits had been … dealt with. We inspecte the castle which had been the bandits headquarters but we didn't find any sign of the person who had defeated the men. We were attacked by the remnants of the bandit group and almost all of us sustained injuries," Alice explained, her voice echoing around the room.

"Almost all? What do you mean by that?" the Emperor asked, he cocked his head to the side.

"Whilst I hit my head I was unharmed. Ra… Corporal Oland used his body to protect me but he was terribly injured in the process," Alice looked over at Randle who bowed his head even lower in his embarrassment.

"We were saved by a village doctor who seemed to have been hunting the bandits. This woman took us to her home and treated us, however by the time we were fully healed winter had hit and the mountain trail was impassable. Due to that we were forced to live in that village for the entire season," Alice paused for a moment, she took a deep breath and looked up at the Emperor. The middle aged man sat on the throne had a full well kept beard and friendly deep blue eyes, they twinkled with amusement when he saw her raise her head.

"At ease, lieutenant ," he said giving her permission to lift her head. With determined eyes she stood and looked at the Emperor in the eyes, much to the disgust of all the nobles in the hall. Yells and insults flew through the air until the Emperor held up a hand to silence them.

"Continue your story," he spoke, his deep voice rumbling across the hall.

"I found that for the first time in my life I had felt like I belonged, everyone welcomed me. They even gave us houses in which to live and call our own. I learnt how commoners live as well as a great many other things. I realised what my mission as a member of Section 3 was all about. Whilst the village didn't have any problems that needed war relief, I was able to stand by Rin's side and see how a true community should be run so that everyone works together instead of only thinking about oneself," Alice walked up to Randle and smiled when he looked up at him, "I also found an irreplaceable love in this man, he made me feel precious without using pretty, hollow words. Therefore we have been married," the hall erupted into chaos as the nobles jeered at them, "and I knew then and I know now that that decision to become joined was the right one to make." Alice stated this with open honesty which made the Emperor smile.

"Two days after our wedding, Rin escorted us home where I first went to the army barracks to inform Captain Hunks that I, we had returned and then Randle, Martis and myself went to the Malvin family home," she paused and bit her lip.

"You probably know the rest, Your Majesty," she whispered, her shoulders trembling. She just couldn't bring herself to talk about the forced imprisonment and being disowned by her father. Randle stopped bowing and stood, towering above everyone, even the Emperor. He wrapped his arms around his petite wife. Silence reigned in the room as the nobles averted their eyes, not wanting to look at the touching scene in front of them.

"Alice?" a voice rang out from the crowd, she turned to see Shuldt's and Lionel step forward, frowns on their faces.

"Princess, is this really true?" Lionel asked, his voice almost sounded like he was begging.

"Yes my lord, it is true," Alice nodded, her stance showing that she was proud to be who she was and that she didn't regret her decision.

"But…" the blond man started, anger coursing through his body.

"Nobla Flamme," the Emperor said quietly hushing everyone in the room. Alice looked up at the man and bowed when he stood from the throne, the sound of rustling clothes telling her that everyone was doing the same as her.

"I knew you grandfather, her deserved such an honourable title. After listening to you exploits I know you are also deserving of that title," the Emperor started and held a hand up to stop Alice arguing.

"A friend of mine has spoken on your behalf and has proposed an idea that I agree with whole heartedly," he walked towards her, a sword glinting dangerously in his hand. On instinct Randle pushed her backwards and stood in front of her protectively.

"Do not fear. Randle and Alice Oland, kneel before me," his voice thundered and, confused, they sank to their knees side by side.

"With the honour invested in me, I give you the title of Nobla Flamme, Contessa of the White Ridge," he knighted Alice, "and Count Randle of the White Ridge," he knighted Randle, sheathed his sword and sat back on his throne.

"As you well know there are no citizens living in the White Ridge therefore I charge you with all the citizens in my kingdom. Do your hardest to make life easier for them. Rise nobles of my court," they stood together and were frozen in stunned silence.

"There will also be a change to the whole of section 3," the Emperor sated, the whole platoon's heads' snapped up, "I have a superior officer who will head the squadron, they are an experienced soldier. I will also give Section 3 their own barracks…"

"Your Majesty!" Major Connery marched forward furiously, "the only new barracks are the Section 1's new building!"

"Section 1's new building?! I don't remember saying anything about it being for Section 1. I thought that your squadron had done the best they could because it was an order from your Emperor, but I guess you aren't that honourable," the Emperor sighed in disappointment causing the major to go red in embarrassment and stutter apologies as he stepped back.

"Captain Hunks, do not look so disheartened, you will still be in charge of you platoon. It just means that you orders will be passed directly to you without the interference of any of the army's busy bodies," the Emperor smiled at the older man who relaxed and bowed his thanks, "Alice, the barracks will be your home as it is an old mansion and your whole squadron will be dormed there as well as Section 3's commanding officer. Here is your key as well as everyone else's," he held out a key ring which had six new keys on it. Alice slowly walked up and he gave them to her.

"Now go, explore your new home," he smiled gently, dismissing them.

They all climbed into the truck in stunned silence and one of the Emperor's servants climbed into the front and drove them to their new home which was out of the city and a little ways into the country. It was a prime location for Section 3 as there were roads leading out in all directions linking the Central county to all they County lords' domains.

The mansion was huge, a lot larger than Alice's previous home. She gasped as they drove through the gate house and saw the massive expanse of their new home. They could see soldiers practising their combat skills on the lawn in front of the lake. The grounds stretched on as far as the eye could see and were full of rivers, forests and meadows. Nestled at the bottom of the hill there lay a little village which looked slightly familiar to her.

They stopped outside the front double doors and stood staring at the building in front of them. The doors opened and a man with short spiky black hair bowed to them.

"Count, Contessa, fellow members of Section 3, I have been sent here by the general to welcome you and to take you to the office," the man stood and started walking meaning that the Pumpkin scissors had to follow immediately or they would have gotten lost. He stopped in front of a door which had a sign above it with the Pumpkin Scissors on it.

The man opened the door and motioned them all to go inside, he walked in afterwards and shut the door behind them, he walked past and up to the main desk.

"General, they have arrived," he said, kneeling down with a hand over his heart. The chair was spun round by the person sat in it, a snort echoing in the room.

"It's about time," a familiar voice rang out. They gapped at the red haired woman in the chair, not quite believing what their eyes were telling them.

"R…Rin?" Alice asked almost hesitantly, she laughed and stood.

"Captain, you chair," she motioned to the one she had been sat on. Hunks just nodded numbly as she motioned him to sit, he couldn't help but realised that the room had been set out like the one in the army headquarters.

"Rin…You're a general?" Alice asked disbelief still clear in her voice.

"Really Alice, is it so hard to believe? After all, you knew I had faithful subordinates when I was imprisoned in that feudal lord's manor. I bet you didn't notice that the entire village was made up of my unit," Rin said, Alice stared at her.

"Is this a new rank?" she asked, Rin shook her head exasperated.

"Alice," Randle began and everyone looked at him, "as you know, Rin and I met in the war when she saved my life," Alice nodded, "she was a general then. Her unit works differently to most, it's the troops themselves that choose their leaders. They normally choose the strongest and most intelligent person in their ranks to become," he paused and looked at Rin, "normally major. He frowned in confusion.

"Though I am not the most intelligent, I am the strongest in both heart and body. The men didn't want another major who didn't really think of their well being so they chose me to rise above them all and become general. So here I am," she laughed before walking up to Alice.

"The 909th platoon is not a normal one. We are more a family than a strict unit with a hierarchy. I hope you won't mind that because it's the only way I know how to run things," Rin bit her lip and looked at them all. Randle smiled and spoke the words that everyone were thinking.

"I think I would like that," everyone nodded.

"Great," Rin clapped her hands in joy, " Oh, Alice and Randle, this is your home so I'll lead you to the living quarters that have been set up for you. Everyone else, Kage will take you to the village down the hill," the man with black spiky hair bowed and escorted them away.

"Is this really real?" Alice asked making Rin laugh.

"Of course it is, silly," she shook her head as she led them through twisting corridors and up multiple stairs.

"This may be difficult to remember," she said as she led them down another hall, "but there are plenty of servants around if you need help." They finally reached the quarters and Rin left them there to explore. She quickly faded into the shadows and moved away to her room which was in the attic of the house.

"My lady?" A man with long, wavy hair pulled back into a low ponytail walked down the stairs form the room.

"It's been a long time, Hayate," she whispered, allowing him to lead her onto the roof. They stood leaning against the battlements watching as the sun set.

"It's been a long time since I was here last," she whispered, he looked at her and smiled gently.

"You gave up your position to come fight with us despite us being unworthy," he said, only to have her smack him lightly on the shoulder.

"You are not unworthy, none of you are," she said firmly.

"But…" he began but was interrupted by her putting a playful hand over his mouth.

"No buts, it was my choice," she looked out at the sky, "I can't imagine life before the army now, it's a home I don't want to give up. I will not go back to living as this country's princess. I am not, and have never been a dainty little princess who wears frills and enjoys dancing," Hayate laughed and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You are and always have been a warrior. It doesn't matter on the battle field that you are the Emperor's little sister. All that matters," he said smiling down at her.

"Is your resolve and strength to fight," they said together before laughing.

The final rays of the sun light disappearing behind the horizon, signalling the end of the day.


End file.
